August in Lake Placid and Adirondack Park – beautiful!

We visited this area in northern New York State for about 10 days in early August. It was a quick drive to get there – about 4.5 hours – and almost all of it on two-lane highway. The roads took us through smaller villages and towns, curled around forests laden with evergreens and, as we climbed to higher ground, we could feel the cool from the forest. Adirondack Park is 6 million acres and towards the eastern side of the park is Lake Placid - elevation 1858’. The Park is a conglomeration of mountains - 3676’ at Little Whiteface Mountain and 4867’ at the top of Whiteface itself. We stayed at the North Pole Campground in Wilmington on the AuSable River. We were about 3 miles from the base of Whiteface. Jim and Amanda, John’s son and daughter-in-law joined us there in their RV. We camped ‘awning to awning’ and enjoyed every minute of it!

Whiteface Mountain and much of the surrounding area are operated by the State so there are no high rise hotels or commercial eating establishments at the mountain. The same goes for the area villages and the city of Lake Placid. The area is incredibly quaint given the reality that there have been two winter Olympics held there – 1932 and 1980. The motels have A-frame fronts, a single level string of rooms - you know the kind – with the parking spaces out front. The facilities also have catchy names like the Edelweiss Motor Inn, Birch Tree and Mountain Lodges and the Adirondack Motor Inn. The road-side signage for the Evergreen Motel was in the shape of a big Christmas tree - the words ‘Color TV’ were in neon lights on the sign so as to attract customers!

Likely constructed in the 50’s and 60’s, the motor inns and restaurants continue to be very well-maintained. There are a few places that offer accommodation on two levels but not many. The Lake Placid city council has clearly done a great job of keeping the place free of the big commercial interests – we did not see any Howard Johnson’s, Holiday Inn’s or Radisson’s nor any Applebee’s, Montana’s or Carrabas’. There was a McDonald’s but why would you go there? You can eat at Mel’s Diner! With all the tourists there, it’s just incredible that they are able to keep their small community standing still in time.

The town of Lake Placid basically circles around a small body of water called Mirror Lake and the north end of the city attaches itself to the larger Lake Placid. The town has storefront businesses on one side of Mirror Lake with many smaller residences within walking distance to the downtown core. The far side of Mirror Lake is primarily residential with larger and older homes. It probably only takes about 20 minutes to drive the circle – not far and a gorgeous view at every corner. We visited the town 4-5 times and each visit gave us a different experience – mini-putt at Pirate’s Cove, lunch on the deck at the Cottage Cafe, ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s and a six-pack at the local Lake Placid Pub and Brewery. Here's a pic of Johnnie and Jimmy on our first day downtown - the bob sled sits out front of a restaurant!


It should be no surprise that the whole area is very athletic. The roads everywhere, including the two-lane highways, are extended in width to offer a 3’-6’ path for cyclists – and there are plenty of them spinning around the countryside. There are no motorized vessels permitted on Mirror Lake – there are guide markers crossing the length of the Lake to offer long distance swimmers a direct 1.25 mile swim to the other side. There is also a great sandy beach for kids.

The town organizes a mini-triathlon each Monday night. Amanda participated (400 m swim, 13 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run) and we watched her with great pride taking pics at every opportunity!










Tuesday, John and I took the Cloudsplitter Gondola Ride to the top of Little Whiteface and the view on the way up, the 360 degree on the top and the view on the way down were spectacular! Jim and Amanda were more interested in getting ‘into’ the mountain itself so they rented mountain bikes. They joined a bunch of other crazy kids who were hauled up to various parts of the mountain in a school bus. Once up there, they followed the winter ski trails (some black diamonds) and headed straight down back to the main chalet. The protective gear that came with the bikes scared me a bit at first – I knew they would have head, elbow and knee protection but I was pretty surprised when I saw them both also wearing chest armour When their day was complete, Jim and Amanda excitedly relayed their experiences on the mountain bikes. I now have a different sense of what it means to be ‘head over heels’!

Wednesday, we headed off to the Olympic Jumping Complex where the athletes are practicing for Vancouver 2010 and beyond. The aerial skiers put on quite a show as did the long jumpers. So you ask, “How do they practice in August without snow?” Well, the aerial skiers careened off the jump platform doing triple somersaults, twists and flips into a 750,000 gallon landing pool! And the long jumpers trekked up the 60m and 90m stairs (skis over their shoulders) and then skied down fixed tracks onto a special grass-like fabric. Amanda and I took the 26-story elevator to the 120m platform to get a perspective on what it’s like to depart from that gate and then fly through the air – not something I would ever try, I can assure you. It was quite an entertaining afternoon and now we are even more excited about watching the coming winter Olympic events!

Friday, we walked the two miles around Au Sable Chasm where the trails are scenic and the rock formations unique. Towards the end of the afternoon, we climbed into swim tubes and floated down part of the narrowest part if the river chasm for about 30 minutes. The water was warm and the sun delightful. There were lots of eddies and a wee set of rapids but, most of all, it was magnificent floating downstream while gazing upward to the top of the chasm! It was just one of those great vacation memories! Luckily for us, there was a trolley to cart us back to where we started our excursion.

Twice we drove up the five mile (paved) Memorial Highway to the summit of Whiteface Mountain. Besides the panoramic view from the top (they say you can see Montreal on a clear day), the place has an amazing history. Built in the 30’s, it was designed to be accessible to all and so you can either hike or ride an elevator for the final 400+’ to the castle on the mountain summit. It’s not really a castle in the sense we’re used to but it was built from the mountain stone and still houses atmospheric equipment owned by the State of New York. And the five miles down the mountain was not an easy run either – riding the brakes is a no-no – the Jeep (in low gear) pulled us through yet again.

When you look down the main street of Lake Placid, it’s as if you could replace all the current year vehicles with those from the 50’s and 60’s – and nothing would look any different! When you look at the mountain scenery, it’s as if you’re the only looking. It was a great place to vaca – we look forward to going back there some day.

Our next adventure is about 8 weeks away. Stay tuned – we’ll be back at you shortly… m.